



,^' 



E 681 
.M75 
Ccpy 1 



Present Wants of the Nation. 



PACIFICATION-RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMESTS- 

JHE SILVER DOLLAR-REFORM OF THE 

CIVIL SERVICE-EDUCATION OF THE 

PEOPLE-EXEMPTION FROM 

LAND GRANTS. 



ADDRESS OV 



HON.'JAMES MONROE, 

June '21 and 27, 1877, 

PflFORE THE LITERARY SOCIETIES OF 

Hiram and Western Reserve Colleges^ 



"news," OBERI.IX, OHIO. 

IS77. 



S!!E^ IKj IED O IK 



HON. JAMES MONROE 



Mij. i'ltiisiDENT AND Gentlemkx: My [ 
subject is, "Present Wants of the Xa- 
tlon."' I shall not attempt to speak of 
all our national wants, but only of sudi 
as are now most obvious, gravest and 
most imperative. Evcli of these might 
well occupy the hour. To group several 
of them in rapid review, while it will 
afl'ord no opportimit}- for exhaustive 
treatment, will give some idea of onr 
political issues as a whole, and will, per- 
haps, at the same time, be sufficiently 
suggestive to enable each mind to fill out 
lor itself the details of fact and argu- 
ment which must be left unspoken here. 
I welcome, and you will welcome, such 
an occasion. In my judgment, it is a 
good time for every citizen, and especial- 
ly every citizen in public life, to utter 
his opinions with entire frankness, and, 
if possible, with entire freedom from 
party bias. There is a present demand 
for speech which, while it is courteous 
and considerate, shall be frank and im- 
partial. "He serves his party best who 
serves his country best,' is a maxim al- 
ready much praised. Let us hope that 
it will soon be generally practiced. 

1. The first great want of the Nation 
IS final and permanent peace — quiet, 
rest, from the agitation of those irritat- 
ing questions which led to, or grew out 
of the war. 

The Nation wants this as the very ba- 
sis of all future growth and prosperity. 
Business waits for it, that its multiplied 
industries may revive in all the land. 
Education needs it, that it may push its 
conquests into new provinces. Civiliza- 
tion requires it, that its varied blessings 
of culture, progress, enlightenment, may 



visit every neighborhood. Christianity 
wants it, tliat its me.ssage of love may be 
carried to every house. The great heart 
of the whole people longs for it. All 
human interests demand that the land 
should have this great rest. We want 
always and everywhere peace, good-will, 
patriotism, national feeling, friendly 
recognition, perfect freedom of inter- 
communication, brotherly competition 
in all useful activitie?, and deliverance 
from all narrow jealousies. 

But this great end can be secured only 
on a basis of justice — of security in the en- 
joyment of rights. Nothing short of this 
can give the country lasting peace. After 
all, the greatest attribute of nations is 
justice. If not the most brilliant and 
showy, it is the most necessary and use- 
ful, and in it is the hiding of the Na- 
tion's power. Certain great doctrines, 
which were established by the war and 
the will of the people, have been em- 
bodied in the new amendments to tVie 
Constitution. These doctrines are a 
common liberty, a common citizenship, 
and a common suflVage for all the peo- 
ple. These are the shield which the 
Nation holds out over the heads of those 
otherwise unprotected. Any policy 
which would abrogate or cripple or 
limit the full and fair application of 
these doctrines, cannot give rest to the 
Nation. Were it supposable that such a 
policy would conciliate the South, it 
would not conciliate the North ; and it 
must not be forgotten that there is a 
North, and that it, too, must be concili- 
ated. For this purpose nothing is want- 
ing but the maintenance of the Consti- 
tution and the execution of the law;^. 



irKiCH OF HON. JAMES MoNROK. 



But let any portion of the people be de- 
prived of these, through the remissness 
of existing political organizations, and 
then tlierc will be nothing left to the 
freemen of the Nortii but to beufin again 
tiie di>eussion ot eU'inentary principles, 
«nd to build up, persistently and per- 
il. ip? laboriouslj', a constitutional party 
of liberty, wJiich shall, at length, take 
possession of the government, and, by 
establishing justice, insure domestic 
tranquility. Among a free people, 
nothing is settled until it is settled right. 
There must be protection for life, liber- 
ty, homo, and all legal rights; the hum- 
l)lest cabin must be as sacred from in- 
trusion as the palace; every American 
—even the poorest and the blackest — 
must feel that every part of the land is 
his for every lawful and honorable pur- 
pose — that he is free to follow an}' hon- 
est calling anysvhere between the lakes 
and the gulf; there must be an absolute 
sense ol security lor tlie industrious and 
law-abiding man, and tiie sense of dan- 
ger and fear of punishment must be re- 
served for the law-breaker; — all these 
mighty evidences of righteous adminis- 
tration and well-ordered freedom must 
exist from ocean to ocean, before Justice 
can lead in her white-robed daughter, 
Peace, to possess the land. 

The desired end, therefore, is the gen- 
eral pacification ot the country, tii rough 
the faithful and impartial execution of 
the laws. As to the best method of se- 
curing this end, great differences of 
opinion, of course, exist. Just now the 
policy of the President is the subject of 
general discussion. Whatever any of 
us may have thought of his policy at the 
outset, it is plain to me that the right 
course for us now to pursue is to aid him 
in making it a success. For the sake of 
entire frankness, I will state that it was 
not, in all its parts, a polic3' which I 
could have recommended. To me it 
would have seemed the more obvious 
and natural course that the President, 
upon his inauguration, sliould have paid 
*onie attention to the question who had 



been elected Governors of Louisiana and 
South Carolina under tlie laws thereof. 
Our Chief Executive, in the discharge 
of his constitutional duties, must often 
corresponil witli the Governors of States, 
and he was particularly liable to be call- 
ed upon to do this in the case of these 
States. Under such circumstances a 
thorough and earnest effort, with the 
aid of his Attorney-General and other 
constitutional advisers, to ascertain who 
were the legal Governors of those States, 
would seem to have been proper and 
commendable. Indeed, so natural was 
this course, and so likely to be pursued 
by any commission of inquiry, that our 
excellent Secretary of State thought it 
necessar}'' to instruct the Commission 
selected to visit New Orleans against 
any examination into tlie facts of tlie 
election recently held in Louisiana. 
Having ascertained who wei*e lawful 
Governors of the disputed States, the 
Presiiient might with safety have an- 
nounced his conclusions, whether they 
were in favor of Packard or Xichols — 
Chamberlain or Hampton. There is 
great satisfaction in such oases in arriv- 
ing at the truth, and the people are much 
di'posec' to sustain a government which 
strives, without fear or favor, to accom- 
plish that result. Ttie President might 
have continued to recognize, to corres- 
pond with, as occasion should require, 
and to lend his powerful moral support 
to those whom he had adjudged to be 
the rightful claimants, so long as they 
could maintain themselves in the office 
of Governor, or so long as they might be, 
in fact. Governors. Certainlj- all this 
would have been strictly within the lira- 
its of his legitimate authority; and the 
doing of these constitutional acts would 
not have placed him under the necessity 
of doing other acts which, in his honest 
judgment, might be unconstitutional. 
He would not be compelled, because he 
believed a certain man to be Governor, 
and had recognized him as such, to re- 
sort to the unconstitutional use of force 
to sustain him in his place. It would be 



SPEKCH OI HON. JAMES MOXKOE. 



Still quite in his power to stop at the line 
drawn bj^ official duty— the ^oblij^ations 
of his official oath. If, then, the man 
recognized by the President as rightful 
Governor had been able to sustain him- 
self with the people of his State, there 
would have been a very strong presump- 
tion that the right thing had been done. 
There would hardly have been found a 
man to question his title. But had the 
recognized official fallen from his phice, 
it would then have been evident that his 
fall was due solely to his want of sirengtli 
at home. He could not have claimed 
that he had failed because he had been 
compelled to encounter the moral weiarht 
of the administration in addition to the 
power of his political opponents. In 
that case, our honored President would 
not have left it in the power of any one 
to say that his intluence, or that of his 
Commissioners, liad been directly or in- 
directly exerted against the cause which, 
in his heart, he believed to be the just 
one. 

But this question is no longer in issue. 
It is now too late to aid the President in 
forming a policy upon this subject. No 
one has ever proposed to make an at- 
tempt to restore Packard or Chamber- 
lain. Whatever v/e may think of the 
President's policy, it has been iionestly, 
deliberately and courageously chosen, 
and it wii! be persisted in to the end. 
That notch in the ratchet wlieel is pass- 
ed. We heard the click of its move- 
ment. We can help make future history, 
but we cannot unmake past historj'. The 
question is not what tlis policy of the 
President should be, but what is oar 
duty in connection v/ith it. now that it 
has been adopted. To me the answer is 
plain. ^V'e must do that whicii, under 
existing circumstances, is most condu- 
cive to the general welfare. We must 
cheerfully sacrifice personal preference 
— the pride of opinion — upon the altar 
of the common good. We must do our 
best to make the newfpolicy a success. 
To this end patriotic men of all parties 
must unite. Had we anv reason to be- 



lieve that President Hayes was guided 
by unhallowed ambition, or by any sel- 
fish motive, we might well think it dan- 
gerous to sustain him, and think it our 
duty to rebuke the spirit by which he 
vvas governed. But we know that such 
is not his character. Having faith in 
his honesty of purpose, we must en- 
courage him, strengthen his hands, 
and co-operate with him. We are not 
obliged to saj^ to him, that these are the 
measures which we would have prefer- 
red, but we can say to him, that, as these 
measures have been inaugurated, and we 
have confidence in the patriotism, integ- 
rity and firmness of the man who did 
it, we will exert ourselves to make them 
a blessing to the country. I se«j no poss- 
ible advantage in any course that would 
weaken or embarra-shim or embroil the 
North in angry discussion. We can not 
recover the past, and we might sacrifice 
the future. I can not think that many of 
our citizens will allow themselves to be 
so repelled by regrets for the past as to 
neglect the noble opportunities that re- 
main. For one, in spite of some recent 
unhappy events in the South, and of 
some acts which cannot be too severely 
characterized, I' am still hopeful of a 
great success for the policy of concilia- 
tion. I know that there are statesmen 
in the South, of broad views and na- 
tional feeling, who would gladly meet 
us half way in the establishment of such 
a policy. There is ground for hope that, 
under the leadership of such men, and 
with, due encouragement from the ad- 
ministration, a new Southern part.v maj'' 
be organized which shall be aiiim:ited 
by a liberal and patriotic spirit. Tiie di- 
vision of the old dominant class in the 
South into two parties, both inviting the 
aid of the. colored voters, would prepare 
the way for better feeling between the 
races, and would be full of promise for 
the whole country. The end which we 
all de.'ire to secure is the maintenance of 
the great safeguards of liberty, and 
through this the peace and prosperity of 
the nation. Anv measures which ac- 



-I'E>CH OF HON. JAMtS MOXKOK. 



corDplish this end, and are not contrary 
to the Constitution nor repugnant to 
sound morality, will finally be satisfac- 
tory to all paities. Measures of concil- 
iation and good feeling are, of course, 
preferable to those of a different kind 
whenever they can be successfully em- 
ployed, for they bring a success not only 
more complete in itself, but less likely 
to be followed by a dangerous reaction. 
If President Haj'es should not succeed 
with his polic}^ we can only regretfully 
say that an upright and patriotic ruler, 
desiring to heal the wounds of the coun- 
try, undertook to accomplish great ends 
of statesniansliip by an appeal to the 
patriotism, the brotherly fetlingaiid the 
generous sympathies of the whole peo- 
ple, but, un.Portunately, failed. But 
should he achieve success, as God grant 
he ma3% we shall all take pleasure in 
classing him and his ministers with 
those statesmen .whom Tennyson des- 
cribes as menj 

"Who know the seasons, when to take 
Oi-casion ]iy the hand, and make 
The hounds of freedom wider yet'"— 

men who cheerfully endure temporary 
criticism, and even loss of cherished 
friends, for the sake of securing enlarge- 
ments to the Xation's liberty, peace and 
P'osperitj'. 

2. The next great want of the Xa- 
tion, after pacification, based upon the 
impartial execution of the laws, is the 
resumption of specie payments. 

If we would have the country escape 
general bankruptcy, we must soon take 
inea-sures to secure steadiness of value in 
our medium of exchange. If anything 
has been proved beyond possibility of 
Civil, it is, that the want of prosperity 
in business has been mainly due to the 
element of uncertainty— the^ risk, the 
hazard in it; and this element of uncer- 
tainty results from the almost daily tiuc- 
tuations in the value of our currency. 
To this cause are due the rapid rise and 
fall in prices — the numerous failures— 
the general business depression — the 
gimbling speculations of Wall street, 



with its conspiracies, Black Fridays, and 
corners in stocks, greenbacks and gold 
— the strikes of operatives and the suf- 
fering of laborers— in fine, ajl the long 
catalogue of our business misfortunes. 
I have been informed by intelligent ob- 
servers that it has repeatedly happened 
within th.e last (mw years that men, who 
desired to invest something in manufac- 
turing industry, have studied the mar- 
kets and questions of cost, and seeing, as 
they thought, a small margin of profit, 
have bought raw material and employed 
laborers, and, by and-by, when they 
have accumulated a large amount of 
manufactured goods, have, at some un- 
lucky moment, been ruined by the 
shiinkage in value of the greenback 
dolhu- to the extent of one-half of one 
per cent. Xo doubt others have made 
more money than they expected to make, 
but, in both cases, the business was in an 
unhealthj'- condition. Ther6 is but little 
encouragement to prudent men to make 
investments where the risks ar^ so great. 
Wise men will prefer to live upon little 
rather than to attempt to make more, 
with such danger of losing aH. If I am 
certain of anything, it is that we shall 
never have sound and general prosperity 
again until the element of risk in our 
business transactions has been reduced 
to its minimum, by making coin the 
standard of value. What, then, are we 
to think of the statesmanship of those 
who propose to relieve the people of their 
embarrassments by increasing this ele- 
ment of uncertainty in business? 

We must ask of our political parties, 
not only that thej' admit these facts, but 
that they act upon them — that they 
adopt such measures as will restore to us 
the sound currency which we need. 
Thej' have commonly professed to be in 
favor of specie resumption, but, with 
some honorable exceptions, they have 
done too much in talking about and 
around this question, and not enough in 
devising and applying efficient practical 
remedies. Their platforms have con- 
tained many fine phrases, but they have 



SPFECH OF HON. JAMKS MOKROE. 



too often been obscure and general rath- 
er than clear and definite. If I mistake 
not, the country will not much longer 
tolerate thi% indecision and delay. 

Among those who are earnestly in fa- 
vor of resumption of specie payments, 
considerable difference of opinion nat- 
urally exists as to methods. I voted for 
the act which provides for resumption 
on the first of Janunry, 1879, and have 
since steadily voted against, its repeal. 
I did not support it with entire satisfac- 
tion, for although it was the best legis- 
lation which could be obtained at the 
time, yet it seemed to me to fail in mak- 
ing the necessary preparation, by means 
of suitable provisions, for the gradual 
appreciation of the value of the legal 
tenders. Without sufficient preparation 
of this kind, it was evident that it would 
be no easier to resume oa the day fixed 



increase of one per cent for each half 
year, until the end of three years, when 
the greenback would I'each the par with 
gold. Lot a law like this be passed, and 
be faithfully carried out, and the follow- 
ing would be some of the noticeable re- 
sults. In the first place, nearly all the 
advantages of specie resumption would 
be enjoyed at once. The value of our 
legal tenders would be almost absolutely 
lixed. The uncertainty which now at- 
tends business transactions would be, to 
a large extent, removed. Men couldi 
buy material, make contr.-icts and incur 
debts, with a clear understanding of the 
extent of the obligations wl)ich thev 
would be called upon to.mi-et. It would 
make little difference to the business of 
the country how gradual the apprecia- 
tion of the value of tlie greenback should 
be, so long as it was definitely fixed, and 



for that purpose than on the day when could be foreseen with certaintv. But 



the act WHS passed. Indeed, some ar- 
rangement for the gradual approxima- 
tion in value of the greenback dollar to 
the gold dollar, seem.s to me to be essen- 
tial' to any successful plan tor resump- 
tion. There is no better method for .se- 
curing this approximation tlian the now 
familiar one embodied in the English 
act of 1S19— that of redeeming paper in 
gold, at rates steadily increasingthrough 
a considerable period of time. Tliatwe 
may understand what the working of 
this principle would be, as ^applied to 
our own financial system, let us suppose 
that Congress, on reassemblinsf, should 
pass a law to the following effect: That 
on the 1st daj' of -January, ISTS, and 
during the half year following, the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury shall offer to re- 
deem legal tender notes in gold, at what 
shall be the market rate on the first day 
of that j'ear, which we will assume to be 
ninety-four cents; that on the 1st day of 
July, 1878, and for the six months there- 
after, he shall redeem at the rate of 
ninety-five cents in gold to the dollar; 
that on tiie 1st of January, 1879, he 
shall commence redeeming at ninety-six 
cents 10 the dollar, and so on, with an 



an appreciation of two .per cent, per an.- 
num would be sufficiently gradual to re^ 
move all temptation to the hoarding of 
greenbacks, as tliis is much less than the 
interest which could be oWained for 
tliem when loaned upon the best security. 
Again, resumption under a system like 
tills would, in no proper sense, be forced . 
The offering of legal tenders for redemp- 
tion would be purely voluntary, and 
would take place only as the holders of 
them should prefer to have the coin. 
The process of redemption would go for- 
ward whenever, in the movements ot 
business, greenbacks should accumulate 
in excess of the demand. But should 
this process be likely, at any time, to be 
carried too far, it would for that very 
reason be checked at once by the in- 
creased demand for greenbacks among 
the people. Thus, the sj'stem would, to 
a large extent, be self adjusting. It is 
noticeable, also, that the danger to be 
guarded against, under the operations of 
such a law, M-ould be that of inflation 
and not that of contraction. First of 
all, the law would increase the value of 
the whole volume of oui- curresicy two per 
cent, per annum; that i^, it would give 



SI'KIXK OV HON. JAMKS MOXKOK, 



US SO luuch u)ore money for each of the 
three years:. For what is meant by more 
tuone\'? Certainly not more nominal 
values, but more real values, more par- 
chasing power. That there is often more 
money in the less than in tlie greater 
number of dollars, everybody know?. 
If I had a hundred dollars in gold in my 
pocket and should offer it to the candi- 
date for Governor of the Greenback 
partv for one hundred and tlirce dollars 
in greenbacks, I imagine that, at the 
present market rates, I should have no 
dilliculty in effecting the exchange. He 
would be compelled to admit that there 
is the most money in the fewer dollars. 
Again, the gold paid out in redeeming 
paper would pass into circulation, there 
being now little motive to use it, except 
for legitimate business. Being a full 
equivalent for the greenbacks redeemed 
by it, it would lill the vacuum created b}'^ 
their withdrawal, and thus of itself pre- 
vent contracuon. Xo doubt considera- 
ble accumulations of coin would be 
jiecessarj' in preparation for resumption, 
even under a plan like this; but I be- 
lieve much less would be required than 
under any other system. Tiie fact that 
the appreciation in the value of the pa- 
per currency would be so gradual, and 
that it; rate would be so fully determin- 
ed and known beforehand, would so 
very far towards removing both^the in- 
ducements and the opportunities for 
speculations in iiold, and would leave 
tne precious metals, for the most part, to 
move freely in the channels of trade, 
under the influenc? of its natural laws. 
Some plan like this, for the resump- 
tion of sjjecie payments, would have 
been and would still be my preference. 
But Congress has never seemed to be 
favorably disposed toward it,;and hence 
I have been willing to co-onerate with 
others in supporting any plan; which 
gave fair pi-omisc of accomplishing the 
result without injury to the busioe.-s'of 
the co\intry. Ic is said that the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury is making an earn- 
est t-ii'.n-z to prepare for resumption in 



1879, by safe and efficient measures, 
provided for, in ids judgment, under 
existing law. W'hat the details of these 
measures are we are not yet informed, 
but 1 biilieve we can trust him. He has 
ability, long experience, sound discre- 
tion and intimate knowledge of our 
finances and of the wants of the people. 
Wc must sustain and encourage him iu 
the good work, and not ailow him to be 
disheartened by any unintelligent clam- 
or which may be raised against him. 

I may add, that as an aid to specie re- 
sumption, as well as for other reasons, I 
am in favor of the remonetization of the 
silver dollar. I am in favor of restoring 
it to the place which it held in our finan- 
cial system before the year 1873, without 
abatement of its powers and dignities — 
with "its arms and trophies streaming iu 
their original lustre." As t'.ie result of 
reading and reflection which have, at 
least, been animated by a desire to know 
the truth, 1 am convinced that silver 
will, as a rule, maintain its relative val- 
ue to gold. I believe that in steadiness 
of value, it will not compare unfavora- 
bly with the other precious metal. Dur- 
ing the last session of Congress, on the 
very day when the bill for the restora- 
tion of the silver dollar passed the 
House, a telegram from the city of Xew 
York was read, announcing thatjOn that 
day, silver bullion was at par with gold 
— that is, that an amount of uncoined 
silver, equal iu v.'eight and fineness to 
tlip old silver dollar, was worth as much 
— had as much purchasing power — in 
the market as the gold dollar. And j'et 
a larg3 portion of Europe had demone- 
tized silver. Germany had recently 
done it, and was putting her silver coin 
for sale on all the markets of the worhl ; 
and our own country had repudiated the 
silver dollar as a legal tender since the 
year 1S73. I submit that a precious 
metal which maintains such vitality — 
such buoyancy of value— under all these 
grievou.'^ disadvantages is worthy to be 
trusted — is worthy to be sent forth as a 
comp<>niun ot gold, to aid in icscoririg 



SPEECH OK UOX. JAMES MOXKOE. 



confidence aad reviving business. That 
great authority upon the precious met- 
als, Oernuschi, was right when, in a pa- 
per read before the Social Science Con- 
gress, at Liverpool, in ISTG, after giving 
some statistics of production, he says : 

"^hi view of these figures it is alto- 
gether impossible, even lor those who 
have been so much afraid of the fertility 
of silver mines, to attribute the depreci- 
ation of silver to natural causes — it is 
wliollj' and exclusively due to tlie action 
of legislators." 

It has recently become evident that 
there is no danger of any great over- 
production of silver in the mines of our 
countr3^ I have a suspicion that the 
yield of silver mines may be, at times, 
more capricious than that of gold mines. 
Tliere are points in history where we 
suddenly hear of their yielding im- 
mensely, and afterwards of their being 
as suddenly exhausted. But the dis- 
turbance arising from this excess or 
deficiency of production, has been local 
and temporary, and lias not materially 
changed, for long periods, the relative 
value of gold and silver. With such 
steadiness of value in silver, with such ! 
need of its aid as the near prospect of 
specie resumption brings, and with such 
large production from our own mines 
at our very doors, it is unreasonable to 
asli us that we shall not utilize silver as 
money. I believe it would be perfectly 
safe, and it would certainly be most 
useful, to recoin the siUof dollar, in 
company with gold coins, as rapidly as 
the facilities of our mints will permit. 

I admit there is something seductive 
in the idea of the single standard; its 
unity and simplicity are attractive to 
the mind. It may also be admitted that 
the relative -value of gold and silver 
cannot be so fixed, that it will, as a rule, 
exactlj' correspond to the fB,ct. But I 
believe it may be made sufficiently exact 
to prevent any serious injury to busi- 
ness. And here comes in another con- 
sideration, which is of the greatest im- 
portance in conneoti(!!i with this subject. 



Two eminent advocates of the double 
standard, Wolowski and Courcelle-Sen- 
euil, strongly urge— and in this they are 
followed by Jevons, though himself a 
friend of the single standard — that 
where two standards exist there is a cor- 
rective compensatory action by whicli 
each prevents excessive appreciation or 
depreciation in the value of the other. 
I quote the words of Jevons: "At anj- 
moment, the standard of value is doubt- 
less one metal or the other, and not 
botli; j'et the fact that there is an alter- 
nation tends to make each vary much 
less than it would otherwise do. It can- 
not prevent both metals from falling or 
rising in value, compared with other 
commodities, but it can throw variations 
of supply and demand over a larger 
area, instead of leaving each metal to be 
i affected by its own accidents. Imagine 
j two reservoirs of water, each subject to 
I independent variations of supply and 
demand. In the ab-ence of any con- 
necting pipe, the level of water in each 
reservoir will be subject to its own 
fluctuations only. But if we open a 
connection, the water in both will as- 
sume a certain mean level, and the ef- 
fects of any excessive supply or demand 
will be distributed over the whole area 
of bo:h reservoirs." 

He applies this illustration bj- saying, 
in substance, that the whole mass of the 
metals, gold and silver, is exactly repre- 
sented by tlie water in these two reser- 
voirs, and the connecting pipe is the law 
svbioh enables one metal at any time to 
take the place of t!ie other, as a legal 
tender. 

Wolowski, with good reason, as it 
would seem, warns the commercial na- 
tions against the serious evils which will 
result from the general abolition of the 
double standard. He afilrms that should 
the demonetization of silver be contin- 
ued, tiie compensatory action, which 
Jevons so well describes, will be sus- 
pended, and that as a consequence of 
the general disuse of one of the precious 
uiotals, tlicre will follow a lise in the 



10 



. SPEECH OK IIOX. JAMES MONROE. 



value of gold so disastrous as to involve 
the wliole business world in embarrass- 
ment. I ask thoughtful men whether it 
is safe longer to continue an experi- 
ment— fqr an experiment it is — which is 
so fraught with danger to the common 
prosperity? 

3. Again, the Nation wants Eeform In 
the Civil Service. The utterance of 
these words may produce a smile — they 
have so often been used without serious 
meaning, or with a meaning that per- 
verts their proper sense. Those in oliice 
have used them as meaning that present 
incumbents should not be removed; 
those out of office, as meaning that nu- 
merous vacancies ought to be made in 
order to accommodate those who have 
not yet "had a chance." Parties have 
ofcen inserted these words in tlieir plat- 
forms as a gooJish phrase which it was 
hoped might win the favor of thought- 
ful and conscientious men. Republicans 
often talk of Civil Service Keform as 
meaning that Democrats should be turn- 
ed out of place and Republicans put in. 
Democrats use the term in a sense pre- 
cisely the reverse of this. Manj'^ per- 
sons tell me tliat no party can long 
maintain itself — that no President can 
maintain himself — ^^without using ofHcial 
appointments as rewards for zealous 
supporters. It is said that President 
Hayes "will not hold out," that he will 
soon find it necessary to modify the pol- 
icy on this question, v/ith v/hich he has 
commenced his administration. We see, 
then, what obstacles there are in the 
public mind, in the way of a fair hear- 
ing lor this subject. My own opinion is, 
that President Hayes is in earnest in 
this policj', and that he will maintain 
it. The Cincinnati Commercial reports 
him as having said of this reform, after 
he was nominated and before he was 
elected : 

"The trouble is not in any lack of 
promises on this question. Both parties 
have promised fairly enough. The Re- 
publicans promised fairly enough four 
years ago. The trouble is we haven't 



kept our promises. The thing to do now 
is to make our promises in earnest, aiid 
to keep them as fulli' as we make 
them." 

This is not tlie language of a Presi- 
dent who would fail in the maintenance 
of principles which he has solemnly 
avowed, both in his letter of acceptance 
and in his inaugural address. Of course, 
the country would not accept any pro- 
fessed system of reform which should 
merelj' substitute one species of favor- 
itism for another — which should only 
withdraw patronage from one set of 
men to whom it could not be safely en- 
trusted, to confer it, in the end, upon 
another set of men, equally frail and 
equally exposed to temptation. To such 
a delusive system of reform, I believe 
that the President will not lend his 
countenance. 

In saying that the Nation needs Re- 
form in its Civil Service, I must not be 
understood as expressing my agreement 
with those journals which affirm that 
this branch of the service is, as a whole, 
corrupt and inefficient. For a number 
of years past, I have been a somewhat 
close observer of our Civil Service, both 
at home and abi'oad. It has many ^de- 
fects — quite enough to justif}" earnest 
efforts at improvement. It ought to be 
more efficient, more economical and, 
above all, more systematic than it is. 
There are some instances of dishonesty 
and embezzlement, and still more of 
laxity and want of strict uprightness. 
But the great body of our officials are 
faithful to their trust, and are diligent 
and successful in the discharge of their 
duties. Many of them are men of great 
merit and capacity for business. On 
the whole, \t must be admitted that the 
government has been fairly served. 
Had this not been the case, it could not 
have been brought safely through some 
of the terrible ordeals to which it hcs 
been subjected. But this is not enough. 
It should not satisfy us that our Civil 
Service is passably good It should bo 
our honorable ambilton to we^d out of 



SPEECH OF HON. JAMES MOXROE. 



11 



it all incapacity, all dishonestj'^, and 
make it, if possible, the best in tlie 
world. 

Civil ofiices inaj- be divided into two 
kinds; tliose which are elective and 
those which are filled by Executive ap- 
pointment. The fonner are tilled for 
terms, the length of which is determ- 
ined by the supposed necessity for more 
or less frequent review of the olhcer's 
ollicial conduct by the people. In order 
to have a more conservative and perma- 
nent body ot legislators. Senators of the 
United States are elected for the long 
period of six j'^ears. Members of the 
House ot Representatives, who are in- 
tended to reliect tlie present wishes and 
opinions of the people, are, verj" prop- 
erly, elected every two years. In some 
of tiie States many officers, for what are 
believed to be good reasons, are elected 
annually. As regards the whole class 
of elective offices, it may be sufficient to 
say that tlie work of raising the stand- 
ard of moral and intellectual qualifica- 
tions, is committed to the great body of 
electors, aided by candid and thorough 
discussion in the press and upon the 
platform. To that tribunal this portion 
of the needed reform may be hopefully 
entrusted. 

But wiiat is meant by Reform in the 
Civil Service as applied to the offices 
which are fiUel solely by Executive ap- 
pointment? Without entering upon 
tedious and, as yet, unsettled details, we 
may answer in genera!, in the language 
of President Hayes, that reform in this 
department means that the affairs of the 
government should be managed as "a 
prudent merchant manages his busi- 
ness." This may be summed up in two 
maxims— first, fill the various offices 
with the best men you can get for ilie 
money; and second, retain them as long 
as they maintain that character. Why 
should not the business of the govern- 
ment be conducted upon these princi- 
ples? Why should not the public inter- 
ests be provided for with as much care 
as those of a bank, a factory, or a store ? 



Such a sj'stem would relieve the Civil 
Service from the effects of blundering 
ignorance; it would, to a large extent, 
prevent embezzlement, fraud and bribe- 
ry; and, as it would reduce the number 
of officials in proportion to their in- 
creased efficiency', it would save a large 
amount of money to the Nation in sala- 
ries. Officials of the Xew York Custom 
House, who would not be likel}* to ex- 
aggerate the evils of its administration, 
recently testified before an investigating 
committee appointed bj'^ the Secretary of 
the Treasury to inquire into its condi- 
tion, that twenty-five per cent, of the 
clerks of that great establishment could 
be dispensed with, if the appointments 
could all be made upon sound business 
principles. They lestitied that a large 
number of unnecessary clerks were kept 
upon the rolls and paid, in order to gratify 
prominent men. These superfluous 
clerks cost the Nation hundreds of thou 
sands of dollars. Why should the great 
body of the tax-payers be asked to bear 
a burden like this? It is said that the 
new system of reform gives no opi)or- 
tunity to recognize men who have done 
honest work for the party. This is n©t 
altogether true. There is certainly no 
objection to a man who has been the 
warm friend of the party, and has 
striven to promote its interests by up- 
right measures, provided he is, in other 
respects, the man that is required for 
the place. No doubt the party in power 
will often find it to be the right, as well 
as the graceful thing, to give places to 
men who have shown ardent attachment 
lo its principles. But a proper system 
would, no doubt, forbid the appoint- 
ment of a man merely because he had 
been a worker for the party, when a bet- 
ter man could be obtained for the service. 
The supreme end is the purity and effi- 
ciency of the service; but as in all free, 
and even in all parliamentary govern- 
ments, the existence of parties has thus 
far proved to be both necessary and 
wholesome, these need not be ignored . 
In filling civil offices, honesty and ca- 



12 



SPEECH OF HOX. JAMES MONROE. 



pacity must be the first thin<? sou^lit — 
mu^t be indispensable ; but. incidcntalli-, 
and so far as is not inconsistent with 
this, men may be complimented with 
appointments who have sliown a sincere 
devotion to the principles of the party, 
and have made sacrilicjs in its sup- 
port. 

A que^tioii which has been attended 
witli no little dilHnilty is the appoint- 
ment of Postmasters. Tbe Constitution 
vests tiie appointing power for these 
officers in the Executive. But as the 
President and Postmaster-General can 
have no knowledge of the (lualitications 
of candidates, v/ho are hundreds and 
even thousands of miles distant, it has 
been the custom to take the advice of 
the member of Congress. But as he is 
liable to ihe temptation to recommend 
his personal friends without suffiiiient 
regard to their ticness— a temptation 
which he ha? not always been found 
strong enough to resist — the tendency of 
opinion at Washington, and in the 
country at large, is now in favor of con- 
sulting the wishes of the voters of the 
locality. It is argued that the judgment 
of the people will generally be more re- 
liable than that of one man, especially 
if that man may be an interested party. 
It is not easy to reply to the argument 
which would make postoflices virtually 
elective. On the whole, there are no 
better or safer judges of the qualifioa- 
tions of a candidate for Postmaster than 
his neighbors, who get their mail at the 
same office with him. Why have not 
the c't'zsns the same claim to be can- 
suited about their Postmaster that they 
have to be con.sulted about their Mayor 
or their Magistrates? It is urged that 
if you make the office elective, many 
men who do little business, write few 
letter.?, or are even quite illiterate, may 
vote. This is no doubt tvu,^; but tliii^, 
whether right or wrong, is part of our 
system of government. Are not those 
who are thought good enough to vote 
for President of the Nation, for Govcrn- 
nor of rhe State, tor Judge of our i-'u- 



preme Court, and for Common Pleas 
Judge, also good enough to vote for a 
candidate for Postmaster? Why should 
he, more than others, be exempt from 
making his contest with the people, and 
succeeding or failing as he may happen 
to stand with them ? Besides, the poor 
family, which makes its living by dig- 
ging and washing, may have the same 
interest in having safely and promptly 
delivered the single letter which it re- 
ceives during the quarter, informing it 
of the illness of a di-;tant child, that the 
banker, or the manufacturer has in re- 
ceiving his daily mail. The poor and 
uneducated send and receive few letters, 
but what correspondence they have is 
commonly of great importance to them. 
It must be freely admitted that Reform 
in the Civil Service is a work which will 
be attended with difficulties, an^ which 
it will take time to accomplish. 
Some mistakes will be made, and some 
well-meant eftbrts will fail of success. 
Our honored President will find also 
that it requires more courage to carry 
out his policy in this respect than that 
in regard to the South. The Ilepublican 
party is found mostly in the North, and 
many Northern Republicans will be 
more displeased by a policy which dis- 
appoints political aspirations in New 
York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, than by 
one which does the same thing m South 
Carolina and Louisiana. A worthy 
Ohio Republican will find it easier to 
reconcile it to his sense of propriet}' that 
Packard and Chamberlain should go out 
of office than that he himself should lose 
a postoffice or a consulate. Tiie former 
calamity is remote and shadowy: the 
latter comes home to him with near and 
lively interest. Such is human nature; 
and tiiere is a great deal of human na- 
ture this vcar. Bat, notwithstanding 
all these ditflculties, the policy oT the 
President will be persevered in. It will 
gradually become matured and system- 
atized. It will gain steadily in the es- 
teem and aflTecfion of tlie people, until, 
at last, no political party can hope to be 



trKKCH OF HOX. JAMKS JIUNROE. 



13 



intrusted with the government unless 
honestly and fully committed to genuine 
lietorm of the Civil Service. 

4. I mention as a fourth great vv;uit ot 
the Xatioii the edueaUon of the whole 
body of its citizens. It is universally 
admitted that free instilutious can pros- 
per only through the general intelligence 
of the people. In tlie light of this un- 
questioned truth consider the appalling 
tacts disclosed by the last census, that 
nearly one-fourth of the legnl voters of 
the United States cannot read or write, 
and that in one-half the country nearly 
one-lialf of the voters are in this cieplor- 
able condition of illiteracy. Pacification 
of the South, Eeform iu the Civil Ser- 
vice, Ilesumption of Specie Payments 
are, no doubt, all desirable; but any 
useful results which we may strive to 
accomplish through these v.'ill be imper- 
fect and temporary so long as the more 
radical evil of ignorance is not reached 
and removed. So long as great masses 
of the people are not educated no cher- 
ished interest is sale. Though you maj^ 
seem to be making good progress in the 
correction of abuses and In the institu- 
tion of reforn)a, yet you can never say 
at what moment some blind and wild 
reaction may not break -out, springing 
from Ignorance and hurried on by sel- 
fish demagogues, which shall sweep 
away all the fair work oC your hands. 
How can the current of the national life 
be puritied when its very springs are 
poisoned? The greatest national object 
which can be presented to the mind of 
the patriot, at the present moment, is 
that there sliould be established in every 
neighborhood of the land a good com- 
mon school, equally accessible to all, 
and a suflicient number of normal 
schools to prepare competent teachers 
for these. This great end all true men, 
ail political parties, all philanthropic 
organizations, should strive to accom- 
plish by every legitimate method. No 
doubt the principal part of this work 
must be done b}'^ the States, and, as citi- 
zens of States, we must ourselves be act- 



ive, watchful and earnest in thia cause. 
But the general government, too, has a 
responsibility. Congress has heretofore 
done much for the cause of education, iu 
some ^directions, by grants of public 
lands. I rejoice in what it has done, but 
regret what it has left undone. Its du- 
ties to t!ie people are not j-et performed, 
and its constitutional powers are not yet 
exhausted. I look forward anxiously, 
but hopefully, for legislation systematic, 
comprehensive and liberal, to aid in se- 
curing the general education of the peo- 
ple, la one section of the NatioiJ, Con- 
gress has conferred the right of suffrage 
upon nearly a million of men, most of 
whom cannot read or vi^rite, but has not 
yet done its share towards fitting them 
to discharge intelligently the duties of 
this high trust. Congress cannot de- 
range, and should not attempt to de- 
range, the just autonomy of the States. 
They are Sovereign over the question of 
education within tiieir own borders. 
But Congress may offer to these States, 
for their voluntary acceptance, and upon 
safe conditions, a reasonable sum, either 
from the proceeds of the public lands or 
directly from the £rea3ur\'-, to aid in the 
general establishment of schools. Such 
offered assistance would^in ray opinion, 
be received in the right spirit; and it is 
the more necessary, for the reason that 
these States came out of the late war so 
crippled in their resources that it will 
be nearly impossible for them, for many 
years, to assume the burden of establish- 
ing a complete system of education. To 
obviate all cause of complaint, and to 
give to the plan the dignity and com- 
pleteness which belong to a principle. 
Congress might divide among all the 
States the sum appropriated for common 
education upon the ratio of illiteracj-. 
This would give but little to some States 
and a large amount to others, but it 
would place the money where it is de- 
manded by the general well are. 

5. Tlie last national want of which I 
shall speak is a negative one, but it is 
not less important on that account. ThOj 



14 



SI'EKCH (n- HON. .lAMKS MONUOi:. 



Nation wants exemptiou from subsidies, 
in lanil or money, to corporations. I do 
not belon;; to tliat sciiool of economists 
wlio hold tliat such subsidies are uncon- 
stitutional ; and tiiere may have been 
times when they were not only constitu- 
tional, but necessary and useful. Bii''. 
the time has at length come wIkmi the 
resources of the country siiould have 
rest from this exhaustive drain upon 
them. Enough has been done in this 
direction, and more than eiiouoh, when 
we remember the claims of more vital 
interests tliat have been almost wholly 
neglected. Especially is the Nation 
weary oi bestowing grants of land upon 
railroads. The Commissioner of our 
General Land Office, in a report dated 
Januar}' '.», 1872, estimates the total 
amount of land included in grants to 
railroads, at more than two hundred 
millions of acres. As mineral lauds are 
in part excepted in these grants, a small 
portion of them will revert to the Gov- 
ernment, but not enough to diminish in 
any large degree this alarming atrgre- 
gate. Xow, two hundred millions of 
acres are more than 300,000 square 
miles, which is nearly one-tenth of the 
whole territory of the United States. 
AVe have thus paid tithes of all that we 
possess to these corporations. Nearly 
one-tenth of our whole acreage has been 
bestowed upon them, and as the line of 
these roads generally passes along val- 
leys and river bottoms, it is evident that 
what we have given them has been of 
the best of our heritage. You will then 
agree with me tiiat our liberality to- 
wards these objects has already passed 
all reasonable limits. Let it be contin- 
ued, and an American who is seeking 
lor a homestead will soon have difficulty 
in finding a good piece of land upon 
which to settle. Education is already 
crying out for aid whieli it cannot ob- 
tain. Tlie time has come when rail- 
roads, like other business eilterprises, 
slioukl stand or fall upon their own 
merits. Let the business of railroads 
be conducted unon sound and healthy 



principles, without artificial stimulus, 
and let the public domain be reserved 
for actual settlers, and for the educatioii 
of their children and tlie children of the 
American people. 

I lipve thus imperfectl}' presented 
what appear to me to be, at the preserit 
time, the most pressing and important 
wants of rhe Nation. Perhaps others, 
in speaking upon the same general 
theme, would iiave made a somewhat 
different selection of topics. But I will 
venture te say that no thoughtful man 
could address you upon what he should 
consider the imperative needs of the 
country witiiout treating of several of 
those which I have discussed. Thoy ai'e 
certainly questions about which all men 
are thinking, talkiiig and writing. It 
would be unreasonable to suppose that 1 
had carried your sympathies and con- 
victions with me on all points, but I 
would gladly hope that I had done this 
in the main. If this is so, I know that 
1 shall not in vain invoke your co-opera- 
tion with all those who love and sup- 
port sound principle^;, in the advocacy 
and establishment of such principles in 
the land. Correct political doctrines 
need to fall back more and more for sup- 
port upon thinking aud educated men. 
Especially must the friends of good gov- 
ernment look to young men, who are 
about to tak^e their places in business 
and in the professions, to commit them- 
selves early to sound political opinions, 
and to support them through life. For 
you the question, what is true, is every 
way more important than the question 
what will, at the moment, be received 
with favor. Devotion to truth not only 
brings self-respect and peace of mind, 
but, in the end, it even brings, better 
than anytliing else does, the lower re- 
wards of worldly honor and prosperity. 
For it is true here, as in regard to a still 
liigl)er and more sacred interest, that 
whosoever would save his life shall lose 
it, and whosoever shall lose his life, for 
conscience' sake, the same shall save it. 
The honest and true heart God knows 
and rewards from the beginuiijg and al- 
ways. In time, man also will rt-cognize 
and honor it. 



LiBRftRY OF CONGRF<;«; 

IMi 



